Signal for automobiles.



W. S. UNGLESBY.. SIGNAL FO R AUTOMOB'IL ES. APPLICATION HLEDAPR. 14, 1914. v

- Patented Sept. 5, 191-6.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.:

amomto'o APPLICATION men APR, 14. 1914.

W. S. UNGLESBY. SIGNAL FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Patented se g 5, 1916.

2 SHEETSSY'HEE T 2.

40 In the drawings: Figure l is a fragmennnrr in sra'rns PATENT ornicn.

ILLIAM s. UNGLESBY, or FRANKLIN, 01110.

SIGNAL FOR AUTOMOBILES.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. UNGLESBY, citizen of the United States, residing at Franklin, in the county of lVarren and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signals for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in indicators and more particularly to indicators for pointing out the intended route of vehicles, the primary ob-' ject of my invention being the'provision of a direction indicator for automobiles which may be attached to any suitable part of the vehicle in such manner that it may be swung to the right or left to indicate the intended path of the vehicle, the swinging being accomplished by actuation of a hand leveror other suitable mechanism located at any point convenient to the driver of the car.

In carrying out the above object I provide a'swingingly mounted casing having transparent or translucent sides upon each of which is painted or otherwise marked a 7 hand, arrow or other suitable direction indicator, the hands painted on the sides being lighted up by an electric light contained in the casing.

In this connection, a further object of my invention is to provide switches for auto- 'matically opening and closing the electric light circuit upon movement of the indicator.

With these and other objects'in view, my invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in theclaim which is attached to and forms a part of this application.

tary side elevation, of a conventional form of motor car, showing my invention applied thereto, a portion of the hood of the car be ing broken away to disclose the location of the operating mechanism; Fig. 2 is a similar view, the wiring being shown diagrammatically; Fig. 3 is "a perspective view of the operating mechanism, the parts being shown in unassembled position; Fig.4 is. a transverse sectional view taken through the lever segment and one of' the pairs of switch con- .tacts carried by it; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic a view illustrating the various parts of the hand operated controllever for actuating the indicator..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept, 5, 1916.

- I Application filed April 14, 1914. Serial No, 831,766.

braced by a tie rod 13 extending longitudinally of the vehicle between the radiator and tional form of motor vehicle 10 having adash 11 and radiator 12, the radiator being dash and directly over the engine, In Fig;

1 the hood 14 of the vehicle is shown broken away in order to disclose this tie rod 13.

My invention includes a U-shaped supporting bracket 15 secured by its ends to the tie rod 13 and carrying between its ends a plate 16 provided with spaced vertically disposed bearings 17 and 18 adapted to receive shafts 19 and 20. Mounted upon the upper end of the shaft 19, which is located in advance of the shaft 20, is a casing 21 having either transparent or translucent side walls 22 upon which are painted or otherwise inscribed some direction indicating device such as hands 23 or arrows. Mounted within thiscasing is an electric light bulb 24 which, when the current is turned on, illuminates the side walls to thus attract attention to the indicator.

As shown in Fig. 1,-the shaft 19 extends through the hood of the car, while the shaft 20 terminates beneath it, said latter shaft being provided at its upper end with a spur gear 25 which meshes with a'pinion 26 carried bythe shaft 19. A collar 27 is secured in any suitable manner, as by a set screw 28 upon the lower end of the shaft 20 and is provided with a laterally directed arm 29 by which the shaft 20 may be rotated to rotate the shaft 19 and so swing the illumined casing, which may very properly be termed sign from side to side. At this point it should be noted that the size ratio of the gear 25 and its pinion is such that a relatively slight turning movement vof the gear will suffice to turn the shaft l9 through an angle of degrees. 1

In order to provide convenient means for operating the above described signal, I ,provide a sector, indicated as a whole by the numeral 30, this sector being clamped in any ,suitable manner upon the steering column into Whichever one of the notches 33, 34 or 35 it is swung into elinement with.

that swinging of the hand lever will causerotation of the sign, The notches 33, 13 i and 35 are so spaced that movement of the hand lever from any one of these notches to an adjacent notch will cause the sign to turn through an angle of 90 degrees.

, in installing the signaling device, the collar 27 is so mounted upon the shaft .20 that the hand lever will seat in the middle notch 33 when the sign is pointing straight eheeol. Flt wiil therefore be seen that swinging of the hand lever to seat in the notch 3- will cause the signto swing to the left, While swinging of the hand lever to seat in the notch 35 will turn the sign to the right. The engagement of the hand lever in the notches of its segment serves to effectually lock the sign against movement when once set.

The segmeifiv is provided adjacent the notch 3% and the notch 35 with fixed. contact stools 37, properly insulated irom the-segcontend with resilient spring contacts 38 also insulated from the segment and. so mounted that in norinel position their free encls'are spaced from the fixed contacts 8. These spring contacts are preferably providerl on their outer feces with ecovering of insulating material to prevent leakage of current to the hand lever by which they are engaged, The swinging of the hand lever into either thenotch 34-. or the notch 35 forces the contact 38 at notch into engsgoment with the adjacent contact 37, the two being helgi in engagement as long the hand lever remains in the notch encl being immedieteiy separated. by-mcvemeiot of the hend lever,

A Wire 40 connects the contacts 37, While at Wire i1 connects the contacts 38. A wire 44 leads from one of the lamp socket contacts directly to one pole of a battery 43', While a. wire leads from the cth r contsct of the lamp socket to one of the contacts 38, e, Wire leading from one of the contects 8? to the other pole of the better if esirecl, Emmi switch es may he intery-oeeci iii any one of shove wares any cciiof the circuit, irrespective of the position the hood lever, such switch being shown in connection Wit the wire the switch heis mouetecl upon the sash of the vehicle venient o nt to ermit oermenent cnenizn r i i i i right or to the left, the light Will he When driving the car in the cie'ytime, switch 46 is usually openec so that the a. rection indicator may he employee. vii Waste of current as the Eight is, of cow unnecessary at such s time, When cl fi. the switch. 426 is close i 1e 1 clicator employed in the semi menu swinging of the hood lever lit t course-he clear that movement of h. lever into engagement with either 02'? 2 contacts 3 8, at once closescircuit from t battery through the iight and thesefors t Whenever the is swung poim it will further be clear that this ciccoi be broken as soon as the hand fiever is sW back to neutral position and. is no waste .of current, the light heme] o ly lighted when the signs; is ectimliy being ploycci to, denote an intended change in direction of the car.

The casing 21, "which is preierebiy Wei shaped, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drewipflet has its narrow end presented to the front the machine when in normal position and may be located. at the very front portion of the hood or at any other suitahle pert 0 vehicle If deemed advisable, the suppozt ing bracket 15 and hearing- 16 may he or otherwise formed in. single piece iostesci of being sepcrsbly formed and seemed. to-- gother as shown. The Eight mounted in the casing 21 is preferably cletechsbly therein in orcier that it may he rescliiy re moved for purposes of renewal,

Having thus described the invention, when; is claimed as new is: im

A direction. indicator for vehicies incl'co ing a ti-shaped bracket eda tecl for a i ment to the tie rod of vehicle tech st its freeemls to support its intcrineo portion heiow seicl reel, in plate csrryl vertical. bearings secured in the intermccli .o portion oi? the bracket, shafts joumcleii. in the heerings one of the shafts being lengthto pro ect through the hood covering; the engine, meshing gears carriecl by the shafts, an indicator fixed upon the ezitenclefi end of the shaft and exteriorly of the hoczl,

and manually operable meensfor torch, the other shaft. in tcsthnciiywhereof l eifis mv ence of 

